


A Hand To A Stranger

by botgal



Category: Hiveswap, Homestuck
Genre: Crushes, F/M, Joey gets another alien admirer, Space Vet Joey to the rescue, more pogs hating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-01
Updated: 2017-11-01
Packaged: 2019-01-27 16:03:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12585508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/botgal/pseuds/botgal
Summary: Joey helps a Troll girl and gets to live out the dream of being an alien veterinarian some more.Xefros gets a bit of a wake-up call.





	A Hand To A Stranger

Joey patted Mononoke on the head as she watched the Deercat lapping water from the stream. No matter what the lusus book said about Deercats being capable of running for long periods without rest, she felt bad about the idea of pushing the poor creature so far. So of course they took periodic rests for Mononoke to take a break from carrying them. She patted him gently on the head and looked over to where Xefros was tending to Treetoe. The giant sloth lusus was sitting back on his haunches on the hoverpad, having drunk his fill.

From a bit further down the river, she spotted Xefros coming over to them, hauling a large tree branch full of fresh, crisp leaves. He offered the tree limb up to his lusus, and Treetoe regarded him in return. Then, in one long, slow motion, he reached down and took it from his charge. Proceeding to slowly clean the branch of leaves in a series of bites.

It was peaceful in the forest, at least.

“Heeeeey!” Both Joey and Xefros snapped to look to their left as someone yelled from that way. Quickly, Joey pulled the hood up over her head, adjusting the fake horns, and put a hand on Mononoke's side. The Deercat lowering his head and growling faintly. The foliage rustled and thrashed about, until at last someone burst on through.

It was a Troll girl that looked to be about their age (or so Joey assumed, who know how you told someone's age on this planet really, she was about their size, though). She saw the two of them and looked relieved.

“Oh thank goodness. I thought I saw someone over here. And you're both Lowbloods. I'm _saved_.” Both Joey and Xefros glanced at each other with confusion, then back to her.

“Uhm... did you need something?” Xefros asked hesitantly. He noted after a quick glance that the girl appeared to be a Bronze Blood, like Dammek. Only her sign was shaped into more of a triangle with two squiggly sides, and her horns curved down against her head and had a wavy shape like her sign.

“Yes, please! I need help! I was in here to gather up fruit with my lusus. But when I went to climb one it fell, and it landed on her! I don't care what it'll take, you have to help me, please! I'll do anything!” Xefros looked at the girl hesitantly, unsure of how to respond.

“I, um, I don't really know if we can-”

“Of course we can help!” He gave Joey a despairing look as she stepped up, looking determined and standing tall. If there was an animal in need, she intended to help it. No matter what the situation. As he had unfortunately discovered during their travels together. The Troll girl sighed with absolute relief.

“Oh thank you! Thank you so much! She's over this way!”

“Lead the way!” The two of them ran off through the foliage, and Xefros stared after them nervously. He was hesitant to follow, but after he saw Dammek's lusus had left the stream and was following them, he sighed and ran to the river. Getting the control of the hoverpad and making it bring Treetoe along with them. By the time he caught up to them, Joey was already hard at work on the problem.

As it was, the fallen tree had landed atop the lusus in question, but had been stopped from outright crushing it thanks to a few rocks that propped it up a bit. From Joey's perspective, it looked like some sort of badger-like creature, only it had ears like a bunny (a badgy? Bunger?). She placed a hand against the tree thoughtfully.

“...Maybe we could try lifting it? Then your lusus could just crawl out.”  
“Maybe. I tried lifting before, but I'm not that strong. Maybe with the three of us we can do it,” The girl nodded. She and Joey both got into position at a place where the tree was at an upward angle from the ground, putting their arms up against it.

“Xefros! Come on! We need all the help we can get!” Joey called out to him. Xefros groaned unhappily and made his way over to them. He wedged himself between them, so that his back was pressed squarely to the trunk while they were on either side. “Okay! Everybody ready? One! Two! Heave!” The three children grunted and strained against the massive hunk of once standing wood, strain showing on their faces. Joey felt a spot of hope when she finally felt it shift a bit higher. Then higher.

But then Xefros collapsed to his knees with a gasp, and the tree went right back to where it had been before. Well then, if he was the one doing most all of the heavy lifting, that made her feel incredibly ineffectual. Yet also slightly impressed that he could move the tree that much when she and the Troll girl could hardly budge it. He wasn't kidding about being pretty strong.

“Okay, so, that didn't work,” Joey sighed as she rubbed her hands. “Thank you for trying, Xefros,” she added quickly. They didn't need him getting pessimistic at the moment, and he did do a good job. He shot her a shaky smile, and Joey hummed thoughtfully. “Alright, it's, uh... it's no worries. We can still do this. Just need to think...” But what did she have that could help them here?

Byers? No, not even with the strength of his tiny but mighty bird wings could they succeed. Spice mix might make the tree taste good, but they weren't termites and the tree wasn't lunch. Doubtful the batteries could charge anything to help them here... Maybe the pogs- _NO_.

Come on Joey, think  _think_ . What did she have that could help that poor creature? She scanned the clearing, looking around at those present as if scanning their faces for ideas.

Then, it was like a lightbulb went off over her head. Maybe nothing _she_ had could help them out. But maybe...

“Xefros!” She pointed at Xefros suddenly, who jumped when she shouted his name. “You have your treats, right?! Give me one!” His expression told her that he was utterly befuddled by the demand, but her desire to help the lusus told her she didn't care at the moment. “Come on! Hurry!”

“Um, okay,” he said hesitantly. He dug around until he extracted one of his sloth treats, and Joey snatched it out of his hand.

“Hey! Treetoe! Over here! Come on, boy!” Both Trolls looked at her like she was insane for calling to the sloth lusus like that, but she didn't care. Treetoe slooowly turned his head to face her, blinking sluggishly, until it saw the treat in her hand. With just as much (or as little) speed as he had turned, he lumbered down off of the hoverpad, going towards Joey. “You want it? You want it? Well... Go get it!” She turned and tossed the sloth treat, so that it tumbled across and ground and rolled neatly under the tree with the trapped lusus.

Ever so dowdy, Treetoe lumbered on over to the tree, sniffing at it curiously and tilting his head. Then, as if making a final decision, he plopped himself onto his hind legs and hefted the big tree as if it weighed no more than a twig. Proceeding after that point to drop it a short ways away and get the treat he had been aiming for.

“... Wow. Your lusus is strong,” the Troll girl murmured as she went to check on her own lusus.

“He is,” Xefros agreed. He wasn't as stunned as the girl or Joey. He knew his lusus's strengths already. Hence why he'd stored those sloth treats in a safe back at his hive.

Joey followed the girl and knelt down beside the badger-bunny lusus, carefully feeling it over and looking for any injuries.

“... Well, overall I think you were really lucky,” Joey finally smiled at her. “Her leg is sprained, but other than that, nothing broken and just a bunch of bruises. I just need to give her a splint and she'll pull through no problem.” The girl sighed with what must have been a massive amount of relief, and Joey pulled out her veterinary kit to get to work. “Just give me a few and she'll be right as rain.”

At once, Joey started to get to work on the lusus, making soothing shushing sounds and interspersing pets in between treatment with what she could find in the bag.

Xefros, for his part, didn't really know what to do with himself while Joey worked, and ended up drifting back over towards his own lusus. Whom he helped guide back up onto the hoverpad once he was done eating his treat. The girl followed along with him, to his surprise, and shuffled her feet as she stood near him.

“... She's pretty nice.” Xefros looked at the stranger with surprise when she finally piped up after being mostly silent for the majority of the time she'd been standing near him. “You two close?” Xefros didn't really know what to say, given that honestly he and Joey had met not long ago, so he made mostly a noncommittal noise. “... I mean... if you aren't, and you don't plan on it... she's pretty cute.” Xefros froze up like a water droplet in a freezer, and looked at the girl, who was still shuffling, only now her hands were out in front of her. “So, like, is this sort of a...” She made two Vs with her fingers and pressed them together to make a familiar <> shape. “That kind of deal, for you two? Or are you more into...” Another motion with two fingers curving to meet together like long necked feather beasts to form a <3.

“O-oh, no! I mean... that's not... we're really not...” Xefros's whole face filled up with color as he began to clumsily stumble over his own tongue. “It's just... she and I, we met not long ago, too. And she's really nice, but I don't know how she thinks of me and, well... I dunno...” He placed his hand on Treetoe's side, as if feeling the fur of his lusus would provide any sort of comfort. The girl smirked, and shrugged.

“Well, guess that's too bad. She really is pretty cute, but you guys seem like you're on your way somewhere anyway.” She nudged him in the side with her elbow, smiling. “I'd get to deciding pretty quick what you're looking for. Otherwise someone else might find another half of their diamond or heart, if you get me.”

“Heeey!!!” Joey called over to the two of them, hauling the badger-bunny lusus in her arms. “Your lusus is all patched up now.

“Oh thank you. I don't know how I could ever repay you,” the girl sighed with relief. She went over and took her lusus from Joey. Xefros hung back as the two started chatting a bit, letting out a sigh. Ruminating quietly over what the girl had said, and the heavy sort of feeling it left in his chest when she'd said it.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Xefros and his lusus are stronk.


End file.
